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MINICASE: WEST MIDLANDS RESTAURANT APPLIANCES
West Midlands Restaurant Appliances (WMRA), headquartered in Birmingham, UK, sells
large, industrial appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers to restaurants
all over Great Britain. For several years, the company has been second in UK market share
to industry leader Thames Restaurant Services, but it has been gaining share in recent years.
WMRA is especially optimistic about catching Thames this year because of the rise of its
star sales manager, David Epstein, an energetic 31-year-old who has been with the com-
pany since he was 22. Epstein is popular with the sales staff, but he also is aggressive and
demands high performance. One of his initiatives is to make all salespeople accountable by
strictly evaluating performance using ratios as well as purely objective measures. In particu-
lar, he has collected performance data for each of his seven sales representatives as follows:
Previous
Sales
Sales Rep
Current
Current
Quota
Number of Number of Expenses Number of Number of
Accounts
Sales
Orders
Calls
Days
Worked
Derek Francona
Johnny Schilling
Daphne Gellar
Robert Smythe
Jennifer McCarver
Manuel Lopez
Samantha Kerrey
Erin McCloud
£480,000 £481,000 E575,000 1,100
750,000
576,000
745,000
765,000
735,000
665,000
775,000
780
1,970
1,020
1,650
1,730
1,790
9,300
12.300
7,500
11,000
11,300
883,000
613,000
1,300
1,800
1,650
1,700
235
223
228
835,000 1,600
657,000 1,150
850,000 1,350
850,000 1,300
825,000 1,400
720,000 1,600
875,000 1,700
852,000
230
232
860,000
835,000
670,000
925,000
11,500
10,800
12,800
1,750
1.750
1,550
1,850
220
960
200
1,910
225
Epstein would like to see an analysis of salesperson performance using the following
ratios: sales growth, sales to quota, sales per account, average order, sales expense, calls
per day, orders per call.
Most of the salespeople are happy to be evaluated, but a few are dubious and fearful of
the consequences. Robert Smythe, for one, feels that his territory, which includes some of
the more rural areas in western England is more difficult to sell in because there are fewer
restaurants and he has only been a salesperson for about a year. In addition, one of Derek
Francona's largest customers recently went out of business, and he feels that his numbers
slipped as a result. Both are close to quitting because they feel they are being evaluated
unfairly.
Epstein wants to beat Thames very badly this year and feels that improving salesperson
performance is the key. Therefore, his performance evaluation system is of the
importance.
2. What advice or guidance should Epstein give to each of the salespeople to improve
performance?